In Cape Town, a grocer was dying. Louis Washkansky was 54, a Lithuanian immigrant who had served in the army in World War II. Severe heart failure and diabetes had left his heart working at about 10 percent of its capacity. Surgeon Christiaan Barnard offered him something never done before. A new heart, taken from another human being. Washkansky did not hesitate. He told Barnard he had nothing to lose as a "dead man anyway." This is the story of the first human heart transplant, and of the strangers whose lives collided to make it possible. If it worked, a failing heart would no longer mean a certain end. But a heart needs a donor, and a donor means a death. Where would it come from?
Christiaan Barnard's First Heart Transplant
In Cape Town in 1967, Christiaan Barnard's team sewed a bank clerk's heart into a dying grocer, who lived 18 days.
Chapter 1
A Dead Man Anyway
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who received the world's first human heart transplant?
Louis Washkansky, a 54-year-old grocer, received the first human heart transplant. He was a Lithuanian immigrant dying of severe heart failure and diabetes. His own heart was working at only about 10 percent of its capacity.
Where did the donor heart come from?
It came from Denise Darvall, a 25-year-old bank clerk struck by a car in Cape Town. She was declared brain-dead at the hospital. Her father, Edward Darvall, gave consent within a few minutes.
Why did Louis Washkansky die if the new heart worked?
He died of double pneumonia 18 days after the operation. Doctors had suppressed his immune system with radiation and drugs to stop him rejecting the heart. His new heart was found perfectly healthy when he died.
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